One of the best school resources for meeting new people, connecting over shared interests, and finding a community is the club fair. On Sep. 26, recurring clubs from previous years and brand new clubs looking to advertise to the student body will fill the commons during flex. 

Junior Nola Kelly is Club Commissioner this year. Kelly shared that she is in charge of planning club-centered events, including the Harvest Fest,Winter Market and making sure the clubs succeed.

 “What that means is helping fundraise, reaching out, helping advertise, posting stuff, also advocating for them,” she explained.

Kelly also shared a goal to make communication between the clubs clearer by creating a club calendar.

“Once a month, the clubs can update what they’re doing or when they’re meeting or if they have something planned and try to get that into the newsletter,” Kelly said. 

“The lack of communication and just general confusion that I was experiencing and feeling myself kind of motivated me to go for clubs commissioner,” Kelly added. Her plan for the clubs’ calendar will make communication clearer and offer students an all-in-one platform to stay connected and informed.

The Cook and Bake club started last year and will be returning this year. It was started as an opportunity for students to connect socially over cooking and baking. Senior Lucia Romero is president of the club, and shared that she was interested in learning how to become better at cooking, but didn’t have room in her schedule to take the food processing class.

“Maybe other students felt the same thing, that they wanted to cook and bake, but they didn’t have time for the class. So I felt like we should bring it to McDaniel.” 

Romero mentioned that the Cook and Bake club got started too late to join the club fair last year, and they are looking forward to joining it this fall. 

“This year, we feel like the fair will help us bring a lot of people in because they might not know that the club exists, so we’re really excited to put a booth up this year.”

Romero also explained how the clubs can share skills and cultures. “I think that it would be cool to collab with more clubs. Last year we did a club with Chinese club for Chinese New Year and we made dumplings.”

Opportunities like this are a great chance for peers to exchange ideas and learn about different backgrounds. 

Sharlivia Slaughter, known as Coach Shar to students, is in charge of running the clubs. Slaughter brought the club fair to the school originally and described her hopes for another successful fair.

“My hope for this year’s club fair is that we have a good layout, so people can really take their time and get to know all the great clubs we offer.” 

Slaughter also shared her experience with clubs growing up. 

“I was in clubs in high school, and it was a sense of belonging. I felt a part of something, and I feel like when voices of young people get together, they can make a big impact.”

 Slaughter said that she encourages students to start their own clubs to make connections with others. Students can do this by finding a teacher to act as advisor and at least one other member, then sharing their information with her. Slaughter added that students shouldn’t feel discouraged if their club starts unsuccessful, and urges them not to give up.

“Find me or another student leader and figure out how you can engage or what you can do differently to get more members to join your club.”

Whether you’re looking to find your niche, searching for a community to meet new people, or interested in starting a club to share your hobbies and interests, the club fair is a unique catch-all event that offers something for everyone.